Chronicle of a Death Foretold

1. Describe Santiago Nasar. What evidence is there that he was actually guilty of the crime for which he was killed? Santiago Nasar is a good-looking, wealthy young man of twenty-one. He is the son of an Arab immigrant, Ibrahim Nasar, and Plácida Linero, who had a marriage of convenience. In some ways he seems …

Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez is famous for developing the style of magical realism, a genre of realism that incorporates elements of the fantastic. His most celebrated work, the 1967 novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, has been translated into at least thirty-two languages and is considered a classic of contemporary literature. García Márquez was …

“On the day they were going to kill him, Santiago Nasar got up at five-thirty in the morning to wait for the boat the bishop was coming on.” (Chapter 1, page 3) In the opening line of the book, García Márquez reveals the ending of the story: Santiago Nasar is killed. The rest of the …

Failure of Authority One of the themes evident in Chronicle of a Death Foretold is the failure of legal and moral authority in a time of crisis. Gabriel García Márquez was critical of political and religious leadership in Colombia for failing to address real problems of the people. As a journalist, he called attention to …

Cocks Crowing In Chapter 1, three references are made to the crowing of cocks on the morning of Santiago’s murder. This may be interpreted as a sign of betrayal. In the Bible, Jesus predicted that before the rooster crowed in the morning, his disciple Peter would deny him three times. In fact, Peter did deny …

Father Carmen Amador Father Carmen Amador is the parish priest, who learns that Santiago is about to be killed, but forgets to mention it to him. He later performs the autopsy on Santiago’s body, as the town doctor is absent. Colonel Lázaro Aponte The town mayor, Colonel Lázaro Aponte is notified of the plot to …

For years after the incident, everyone in the town ponders over the mysterious sequence of events that led to Santiago’s murder, wondering what they might have done differently. Cristo Bedoya, who later became a renowned surgeon, wonders why he went to his grandparents’ house that fateful morning instead of going home to his parents, who …

In the moments after he is stabbed, as Santiago lies in his death throes on the kitchen floor, the family dogs try to get into the kitchen to eat the man’s guts. In her frustration, Plácida Linero has the dogs shot. In the absence of the town physician, the priest is placed in charge …

The lawyer in the trial of the Vicario brothers argues that the murder was done in legitimate defense of honor, and the court upholds this view. Even the priest, Father Amador, to whom the boys surrender after their crime, suggests that they are innocent in the eyes of God. Although the brothers show no remorse …

Chapter 2 In Chapter 2, the narrator tells the story of Angela Vicario and her groom, the golden-eyed Bayardo San Román. A wealthy, dashing railroad track engineer and the son of a famous army general, Bayardo arrives in the town six months before the wedding in search of a woman to marry. He discovers Angela …